Experiment No.

4
STUDY OF VOLTAGE GAIN AND FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF COMMON
EMITTER AMPLIFIER
AIM
1. To design a small signal voltage amplifier.
2. To plot its frequency response and to obtain bandwidth.

Fig: CE Amplifier Circuit Diagram

THEORY
Amplifiers are classified as small signal amplifiers and large signal amplifiers depending
on the shift in operating point, from the quiescent condition caused by the input signal. If the
shift is small, amplifiers are referred to as small signal amplifiers and if the shift is large, they are
known as large signal amplifiers. In small signal amplifiers, voltage swing and current swing are
small. Large signal amplifiers have large voltage swing and current swing and the signal power
handled by such amplifiers remain large.
Voltage amplifiers come under small signal amplifiers. Power amplifiers are one in
which the output power of the signal is increased. They are called large signal amplifiers. Figure
shows the circuit diagram of a common emitter amplifier.
DESIGN
From the transistor data sheet, for BC107,
hfe = β = 300, Ic max=100 mA, VCE max = 45V
Let VCC =12V, Ic = 2mA. Since the quiescent point is in the middle of the load line for the
amplifier, VCE = 50% of VCC = 6V.
VRE = 10% of VCC = 1.2V.

Assuming IC = IE , VRE = IC RE = IE RE

1.2 = 210−3  RE

RE = 1.2 =600 Select standard value of resistance 560 Ω.

210−3

Voltage across collector resistance, VRC = VCC − VCE −VRE

= 12−6−1.2 = 4.8V

V
Rc = = 4.8 = 2.4 kΩ Select standard value of 2.2 kΩ
RC

I
210−3
C
−3
Base current, IB = I C = 210 = 6.7 μA
 300
Take I 2 =10IB then I1 =10IB + IB =11IB

Base voltage, VB = VRE + VBE = 1.2 + 0.6 = 1.8 V

R = VB = 1.8 = 27k
−6
2 I2 10 6.710

R = VCC −VB = 12 −1.8 = 138.4k

1 I 11 6.710−6
1
Design of RL:
Gain of CE amplifier is given by:

Where is parallel to and

For a gain of 20 we get RL=873Ohm.

Select approximate value for RL.

Design of coupling capacitors CC1 and CC2

XC1 should be less than the input impedance of the transistor. Here, Rin is the series impedance.
Rin
Then XC1 
10
Here Rin = R1 ‖‖ R2 ‖ h fe re = 47kΩ ‖10 kΩ ‖ 110 12.5  = 1.17 kΩ

We get Rin=1.17 kΩ. Then XC1 ≤ 117 Ω.

For a lower cut off frequency of 200 Hz, CC1 = 1 = 1 = 6.8 μF

2 fXC1 2  200117
Select standard value of 10 μF for CC1

R
Similarly, XC 2 
out
where Rout=RC. Then XCE ≤ 220Ω.
10
1 1
So, CC 2 = = = 3.6 μF
2 fXC2 2  200  220

Select standard value of 3.3 μF for CC2

Design of bypass capacitors CE

To bypass the lowest frequency (say 200 Hz), XCE should be much less than or equal to
the resistance RE.
X RE
CE 
10
X 560
CE  ie. XCE  56
10
Apply value of f such that the amplifier has good gain at a lower cutoff frequency of 200 Hz

CE  1 = 1 = 14.2 μF
2 fXCE
2  20056
Select standard value of 22 μF for CE
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
The gain of an ideal amplifier should remain the same for any frequency of the input
signal. Therefore, the frequency response curve (gain in db plotted against frequency) becomes a
straight line parallel to the frequency axis.
In actual practice, the coupling capacitors and the emitter bypass capacitor reduce the
gain at lower frequencies. The capacitance internal to the transistor and stray capacitance due to
the wiring reduce the gain at higher frequencies.
Fig 2 shows the typical frequency response characteristics of CE amplifier. The curve is flat
only for middle range of frequencies. There is one low frequency fL and one high frequency fH

Fig 2. Frequency response

beyond which the gains, AL and AH are 1/√2 times the gain AM (maximum gain) at the middle
frequencies. The two frequencies are called lower and higher cut off frequencies. The difference
between them is called the bandwidth.

PROCEDURE
The circuit is set up as shown in figure 1. Input signal Vs is given to the circuit through a
signal generator (sinusoidal signal is applied). Measure the magnitude (peak to peak) of the input
by using CRO. Connect the CRO to the output side and the amplified output is observed.
Increase the frequency in steps and observe the magnitude of VO. The frequency response is
plotted in a semi log sheet.

APPLICATION
• CE amplifiers are use in low frequency voltage amplifiers
• These amplifiers are used typically in RF circuits
• Used in low noise amplifiers

ADVANTAGES
• Has low input impedance and it is an inverting amplifier
• The output impedance is high
• The amplifier has highest power gain when combined with modern voltage and current
gain
• Current gain is high
DISADVANTAGES
• In high frequencies, CE amplifier does not respond.
• The voltage gain is unstable
• The output resistance is very high
• High thermal instability